Pick your Poison

"So," I began as I looked over the scenery from the battlements, "What exactly happened? To me?"

Below was a sprawling city bathed in muted blues and yellows adorning marble-white buildings. The architecture was as if ancient Greece had evolved into Gothic architecture, with open spaces and wide roads in abundance. Flowing canals and picturesque parks spread throughout the urban landscape, but despite everything, the city seemed deserted. There was no movement anywhere, as if it were frozen in time, and oddly not uniform in opacity. Some portions and buildings were less there, somewhat see-through.

"Well, from the teleportation itself, most likely nothing," Eloise assured me, sounding confident with no hesitation in her answer. "I had lost control when it opened on top of something, or rather someone, namely you, and instantly reeled you in. That completely drained my focus, the thing you refilled, and I wasn't ready for it. It tore to fit you, and started expanding using the ambient mana, like a vacuum."

"Could it have… messed with memories?" I was hesitant to ask, but did anyway as I turned back to face her. "Make it all feel like a dream? Distant and difficult to remember?"

A slight frown creased her brow, and she seemed to contemplate while chewing her cheek for a few moments before giving a reply.

"That is concerning, but there are a few possibilities that come to mind. Most likely a disconnect between your body and soul, which is actually simple to either fix or rule out." She changed up her motions, yanking hard with her right before grabbing the taut threads with her left, then began wrapping them around the fist she formed. This left her right arm free as she flexed and stretched it, cracking her fingers. "Let's sort that out, rather than let it linger, just in case. Get yourself the red potion and pass me a blue one from the untouched set."

"Is it alright to be doing this with, what did you say, a tear in reality right there?" I asked while hurrying over, knowing this was not the time to question the obvious expert.

"Worst case, I owe the resident Goddess an apology and favor, partially why I did the experiment here. There is no danger, although don't tell her I said that." She gave me a mischievous smile as she took the blue potion I offered her, and with a practiced motion, uncorked it one-handed before downing it.

"Goddess? Gods are real?" I had to ask, even as I watched her face scrunch up in apparent disgust from the blue tonic. "You can meet them?"

"Yeah, they sure are. Eugh, that was horrid." She gagged for a moment, but recovered, managing to keep the liquid down. "Pass me a red one as well, I need something to wash it down. I swear it better be this bad from its potency, and not petty revenge."

I handed her mine, uncorking it first, before taking another for myself. Seeing her relieved look upon downing it dispelled my worries about its taste, although I had to ask an important question.

"What are these? I'd like to know before drinking any."

"That red one best translates as a flesh restorative, although my father calls it a health potion, so that might be a more appropriate name for you. The blue would be mana, which I understand you possess as a concept despite its non-existence in your reality. The ones belonging to the set I just drank from are, or at least should be, safe for consumption, while the other set is fuel for my focus. And the purple should, hopefully, help restore your soul so that it is back in sync with your body. A health potion for the soul, if you like. All brewed by one of, if not the best, alchemists this half of the globe, as well as my former apprentice."

I was glad of the attempt at assurance for what I was about to put into my body, but the questions and revelations kept piling up that I felt like I needed a notebook to keep my thoughts in order. I found it odd, as I considered this, that I was met with neither shock nor excitement, even as I learned of alternate realities, portals, magic, potions, and even gods. Just simple acceptance was all I felt, as all of my expectations of what is normal and possible were tucked away in my dream. It was somewhat unnerving that my own mind was not reacting as I would expect from the life I had lived and experienced, what I should expect to be normal and consequently abnormal, feeling as if I had just been born with no past experiences to act as expectations on what is real.

"Well, I've never said no to a shot, I think, so cheers," I say, raising the tube to my nose after uncorking it. I was slightly taken aback by the intensity of the smell, as if someone had sprayed perfume directly into my nose, and it had a licorice flavor. Not something I hated, but it burnt my nostrils.

"It's got a kick, but doesn't linger, and will wake you up faster than anything short of an ice bucket. The purple will be the nasty one, but at least it won't be as bad as what I just had. Now be quick, so I can get back to fixing this before lunch."

With a resigned sigh, I put the tube's rim to my lips and tilted it back without smelling. It was more than a double shot's worth of liquid that I could not down in a single gulp despite my effort to get it down as fast as possible. It burned similarly to wasabi, but true to her word, it did not linger longer than the moment of contact, and even the flavor passed quickly. I could, however, feel it in my stomach, and the burning began to spread throughout my body from there. It was rather awful when it reached my lungs, causing me to cough until it passed. I also felt it most where I had been stiff from lying on the stone floor, leaving only relief in its wake. I was then expecting it to also be extra intense when it reached my head, considering the light headache that was steadily forming; unfortunately, it passed without any effect aside from a sudden wakefulness.

"Seems like your lungs needed that. Onto the purple one now, quick," Eloise instructed, holding one out that she had picked up for me during my coughing fit.

Resigned with dread regarding what I was about to experience, I went to down it without smelling this time. I was momentarily surprised that it had a texture of liquid glass, oddly smooth and solid for a liquid, and was far more viscous, like thick honey. It thankfully did not have a flavor, but was difficult to swallow. The real shock came the moment I managed to get some down, and it settled into my stomach. It was a sudden gut punch of pain that had me doubled over and falling on my hands and knees, heaving and retching it out. My head pounded more than ever, my thoughts and consciousness getting hazy.

I could hear Eloise telling me something, but it was taking all I had to focus just on staying awake, dizziness causing a wave of nausea to pass through me. A hand shoving an opened red potion in my face made me turn my head to it, nearly causing me to fall over as my sense of balance was gone. With a shaking hand, I managed to grip onto it, exerting any kind of force being a mental strain. Slowly, to not let it drop, I brought it to my lips and tilted it back, accidentally splashing some down my chin, but as the burning sensation once again spread through my body, it was, in contrast, pleasant this time, and left me feeling normal again once it passed, aside from the wretchedly growing headache.

I stayed sitting on the floor to catch my breath, staring down at the pool of liquid I had expelled, looking like a puddle of tar.

"That should not have happened. Sorry," Eloise apologized, a hand on my back, a tingling warmth like warming up in hot water after being freezing cold emanating from it. "At least I know what is wrong now, from that reaction. I can't say it is good; there is no perfect solution, but there are ways to deal with and alleviate it. This is my fault, so I'll do what I can."

As horrible as the experience had been, I was, for the first time, somewhat in awe at how quickly it had both occurred and passed. It was truly magical how I was healed, and experiencing it finally made it sink in that the magic, which even in my dream memories would seem like a dream, is real. This reality could be more dreamlike than anything I have ever known, and there was some excitement building up within me even as I was being delivered bad news.

"So, what's my prognosis, doc?" I asked while looking up with a slight smile tugging at my lips.

I could see she was slightly taken aback by my mood as she took away her hand and began unwrapping the rainbow threats wrapped around her other fist to continue her work before answering.

"In this reality, all living things possess a soul, and it is what lets us control magic. Since you arrived from a reality where souls don't exist, you lack one. Or rather, a fully formed one, if your memories are fragmented. But..."

I watched her chew her cheek for a bit as she worked, but when she did not continue, I asked, "But? There are ways to deal with it, you said, right?"

"Your soul right now is in a state akin to a baby in a womb, highly unstable, as it needs the influence and portion of a fully formed soul to mature. There is an artificial process that is possible to do with a soul donor, typically done to guarantee a child far more magical might than what it could normally inherit from its parents. It is not a pleasant procedure even when done right, and I think it is needless to say it has never been done with an adult that should already have one."

Despite everything, one thing stood out to me.

"I'd get to do magic if it works?"

That elicited a laugh from Eloise, and she quirked an eyebrow at me. "If it works. I take it you will take the risk then?"

Perhaps I was a bit too caught up in the moment, too overwhelmed to really think everything through and weigh the risks, but I could not help but give a nod as I shrugged in approval.